Client: Salsa
THE CHALLENGE
10 day journey, 800km, limited budget - how to do it justice?
Huw Oliver and Annie Evans are well known adventure cyclists who have travelled the world, and then some, and two wheels. So, when Salsa approached us to document a new film with them, we were certainly excited - but also slightly nervous!
Huw had developed a fascination with a certain section of gravel road, that led him into a rabbit hole of ancient kingdoms, esoteric tourist spots and culminated into a 720km route from one end of Scotland to the other.
OUR APPROACH
Collaboration is key.
The budget for this project certainly wasn't tiny, but nor was it able to sustain a crew out on the ride for 10 days. We had to creative as to how we could make a film that did justice to the route - and Huw and Annie's talents - but not stretch ourselves too thin.
Thankfully, both Annie and Huw are capable photographers and videographers The strength of this route was the narrative surrounding it, we knew that it didn't need to be a cinematic masterpiece, rather a solid story, well told. With that in mind, we asked the pair if they would self film their 10 day ride. We'd never done this before to this scale - but after some great scoping calls, we knew both Huw and Annie would be dialled.
This left us with room to book in 3 "pick-up" days of filming, where we shot some of iconic aerials and detail shots of the Pictish Brochs across the route. After that, all we had to do was edit the thing!
THE OUTCOME
A new iconic route is launched.
As gravel riding bridges the gap between mountain biking, road riding and adventure sports, this route manages to complete a neat trifecta of encompassing all three elements.
The film was a great success. A strong launch on Bikepacking ensured that yet more riders inspired by the history of dramatic Scotland are keen to tackle this route.
